"THE     CHRISTIAN     STATESMAN." 


A   DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED   AST   THE    FUNERAL 


OF 


HON.  JOHN  HEMPHILL,  LL.  D 


IN    THE 


SECOND  rilESBYTEKIAN  CIIUItCH, 


Richmond,  Va.Jan.  7th,  1862. 


13Y  11EV.  MOSES  J 


THE     CHRISTIAN     STATESMAN. 


A   DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED    .A.T   THE    FUXERAL 


OF 


HON.  JOHN  HEMPHILL,  LL.  D 


TN    THE 


SECOND  PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH, 


Richmond,  Va  ,  Jan.  7th,  1862. 


BY  REV.  MOSES  D.  HOGE,  D.  D, 


RICHMOND: 

ENQUIRER     BOOK     AND      JOB 

TYLKR,     WISH.     AI.LBQUE     iSD     I 

186,2. 


THE  FLOWERS  COUloIIQif 


HALL  OF  PROVISIONAL  CONGRESS, 
JANUARY  8th,  1862. 

Rev.  Moses  D.  Hoge: 

Dear  Sir: 

The  undersigned,  believing  that  the  publication  of  your  sermon, 
delivered  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  of  Hon.  JOHN  HEMPHILL, 
would  accomplish  good  results,  ask  a  copy  of  the  same,  for  that 
purpose. 

Very  respectfully, 


J.  A.  ORR, 

J.  A.  P.  CAMPBELL, 

THOS.  S  BOCOCK, 

LOUIS    S.  WIGFALL, 

S.  F.  HALL, 

S.  H.  FORD, 

A.  W.  VENABLE, 

WM.  H.  MACFARLAND, 

A.  R.  BOTELER, 

W.  C.  RIVES, 

A.  H.  BRADFORD, 

W.  BROOKE, 

A.  11.  GARLAND, 

T.  L.  BURNETT, 

H.  F.  THOMASSON, 

R.  M.  T.  HU 


JOHN  B.  CLARK, 
JNO.  J.  THOMAS, 
THOS.  B.  MONROE, 
R.  JOHNSON, 
ROGER  A.  PRTOR, 
J.  L.  M.  CURRY, 
W.  S.  OLDHAM, 
W.  B.  OCHILTREE, 
T.  N.  WAUL, 
T.  W.  FREEMAN, 
THOS.  A.  HARRIS, 
C.  W.  BELL, 
A.  H.  CONNOR, 
G.  G.  VEST, 
ALEX.  H.  STEPHENS, 
NTER. 


GENTLEMEN: 

The  source  from  which  the  invitation  comes,  as  well  as  the  reason 
for   which  the  publication    of   my   discourse   is    requested,   indn«" 
Vne   to  place   the  manuscript  at  your  disposal. 
Very  respectfully,  yours, 

MOSES  D.  HOGE, 
Richmond 
Hoif.  J.  A.  Or.n,  J.  A,  P.  Caupbbll.  ini  i  n 


Mark  xv  :    43. 
•;  AN  HONORABLE  COUNSELLOR. 


To  every  reflecting  man  who  considers  what  it 
involves,  and  who  remembers  what  lies  beyond  it, 
death  is  a  solemn  and  impressive  event. 

We  cannot  look  upon  a  familiar  face  whose  sad 
and  sealed  eye  returns  no  answering  recognition, 
whose  pallid  cheek  no  longer  flushes  with  the  hues 
of  thought  and  passion,  and  whose  features  have 
become  fixed  in  that  strange  and  deep  repose  which 
the  faces  of  the  dead  assume,  without  being  awed 
and  solemnized  by  the  spectacle. 

When  wre  see  the  almost  unattended  hearse  con- 
vejung  the  remains  even  of  a  stranger  to  the  grave, 
we  are  saddened  for  the  moment,  at  least,  by  the 
thought  that  the  tidings  of  that  decease  will  carry 
mourning  into  some  distant  household,  as  yet  all 
unconscious  of  its  bereavement. 

If  it  is  only  a  little  child  which  is  borne  to  its 
short  and  narrow  bed,  we  do  not  forget  that  if  that 
death  did  not  make  a  wride  circle  of  mourners,  it  ne- 
vertheless transfixed  one  heart,  and  filled  one  bosom 
with  such  anguish  as  bereaved   mothers  only  know. 


6 

When  the  humblest  and  obscurest  citizen  dies,  we 
remember  that  a  breach  has  been  made  in  one  home 
which  perhaps  cannot  be  repaired,  and  that  wounds 
have  been  inflicted  on  a  few  loving  hearts  which 
may  bleed  as  long  as  those  hearts  shall  beat.  And 
yet  in  these  cases  society  is  but  slightly  affected  by 
the  event ;  only  a  little  ripple  has  been  made  on  the 
surface ;  the  waves  quickly  close  over  it,  and  all  is 
smooth  and  placid  as  before.  But  when  we  meet  to 
pay  the  last  sad  rites  of  respect  and  friendship  to 
one  who  had  long  attracted  the  public  eye,  and  ear, 
and  heart;  whose  name  and  fame  had  become  a  por- 
tion of  his  country's  inheritance,  and  whose  useful 
life  had  been  a  blessing  to  his  generation,  then  it  is 
no  longer  merely  a  personal  loss,  or  a  family  be- 
reavement— but  private  grief  swells  into  public  la- 
mentation, and  in  each  individual  heart  a  chord  is 
struck  responsive  to  a  nation's  woe. 

In  discharging  the  mournful  office  assigned  to  me 
to-day,  it  is  not  my  province  again  to  awaken  those 
tender  regrets  which  the  recital  of  the  personal  vir- 
tues and  public  services  of  your  late  associate  must 
ever  excite.  This  grateful  duty  has  already  been 
^rfo^uied  by  those  who  were  fully  qualified  for  its 
discharge  by  long  acquaintance  and  intimate  asso- 
ciation. These  tributes  to  the  memory  of  the  de- 
parted— now  forming  a  part  of  his  published  history 
— have  been  becomingly  paid  by  those  who  fully 
appreciated  the  noble  qualities  of  mind  and  heart 
which  made  his  acquaintances  friends  ;     and  which 


now,  that  he  no  longer  lives  to  exhibit  them,  con- 
vert friends  into  mourners.  It  was  an  instructive 
and  an  impressive  hour  when,  on  yesterday,  one 
after  another  arose  in  the  hall  beside  his  vacant 
chair,  to  give  expression  to  those  emotions  of  admi- 
ration and  affection  which  were  due  to  one  whose  in- 
tegrity and  honor,  whose  generosity  and  kindness, 
in  all  the  private  relations  of  life,  won  for  him 
esteem  and  love  as  a  man ;  while  his  eminent 
services  on  the  judicial  bench,  in  the  tented  field, 
and  in  the  chamber  of  National  Council,  command- 
ed the  homage  which  a  grateful  country  delights  to 
pay  to  the  patriot  soldier  and  sage. 

The  loss  of  such  a  man  is  always  a  calamity  to  be 
deplored — but  occurring,  as  it  does,  at  an  era  so 
eventful,  at  a  crisis  so  solemn  and  momentous  in  the 
history  of  our  Confederacy,  Ave  feel  it  all  the  more 
profoundly. 

Now  the  shadow  of  a  great  care  rests  upon  our 
land.  The  new  year  did  not  commence  with  its 
wonted  gladness.  Its  first  day  was  not  joyous  as 
such  days  have  ordinarily  been.  The  sun  in  our 
natural  Heaven  shone  with  clear  and  brilliant  beam, 
but  it  could  not  delight  the  eye,  nor  cheer  the  heart, 
as  of  old,  because  our  political  firmament  was  dark- 
ened by  a  cloud  such  as  we  had  hoped  would  never 
rise  above  our  horizon. 

And  though  we  do  not  forget  in  whose  name  we 
have  set  up  our  banners — though  the  bow  of  promise 
spans  the  very  cloud  which  overshadows  us — though 


we  look  through,  its  rending  folds  and  discern  the 
coming  years  of  independence,  prosperity  and  peace 
which  shall  eventually  awaken  the  joy  and  gratitude 
of  happy  millions,  yet  we  know  the  storm  has  not 
yet  spent  its  fury  ;  we  know  that  the  conflict  for 
liberty  and  right  may  be  protracted ;  and  we  know, 
too,  that,  at  a  time  like  this.,  our  cause  and  country 
need  all  the  men  of  a  certain  stamp  and  mould  it 
can  summon  to  its  service ; — men  of  clear  compre- 
hension, far-reaching  wisdom,  inflexible  adherence 
to  right,  unshrinking  courage,  unselfish  patriotism, 
unfaltering  trust  in  God. 

The  exigency  of  the  times  through  which  we  are 
passing,  and  the  very  Providence  which  has  sum- 
moned us  together  this  morning,  invite  us  to  a  most 
interesting  and  practical  inquiry.  What  should  be 
the  characteristics  of  the  men  to  whom  has  been  en- 
trusted the  high  and  solemn  duty  of  shaping  the 
future  history  of  this  Confederacy  ? — What  should 
be  the  principles  and  the  conduct  of  those  to  whom, 
under  God,  we  are  looking  for  the  vindication  of  our 
rights  and  the  achievement  of  our  independence, 
that  as  a  distinct  and  separate  people  we  may  attain 
to  that  measure  of  prosperity  and  glory  which  we 
so  fondly  anticipate  ? 

No  portraiture  is  more  worthy  of  contemplation,  if 
it  can  but  be  truthfully  drawn,  than  that  of  the 
upright,  patriot  statesman  ;  and  I  invite  your  atten- 
tion now  to  the  delineation  of  such  a  character. 

As  the  first  requisite  to  the  highest  and  most  sym- 


metrical  development  of  all  that  is  noblest  in  the  char- 
acter of  one  in  public  life,  1  would  mention  earnest, 
heartfelt  piety. 

I  am  aware,  and  will  freely  admit  that  some  of 
the  men  in  our  own,  and  in  other  lands,  who  have 
cheerfully  submitted  to  the  greatest  sacrifices,  and 
who  have  rendered  the  most  splendid  services  to 
their  country,  have  been  men  destitute  of  this  quality. 
Notwithstanding  the  sweeping  and  undiscriminating 
assertions  of  some  divines  with  regard  to  human  depra- 
vity— a  doctrine  clearly  revealed  in  the  Scriptures, 
but  often  sadly  misrepresented  by  those  who  fail  to 
make  the  distinction  between  such  traits  of  character 
as  may  be  exhibited  by  the  natural  man,  and  those 
which  are  the  fruits  of  the  Holy  Spirit — there  is 
such  a  thing  as  human  virtue.  There  are  men  who 
make  no  pretension  to  vital  godliness,  who  love  and 
speak  the  truth,  who  scorn  a  base  and  ignoble  action  ; 
who  are  faithful  in  the  discharge  of  their  obligations  to 
their  fellow  men,  active  in  their  philanthropy,  self- 
sacrificing  in  their  efforts  to  promote  the  public  good. 
There  was  such  a  thing  as  patriotism,  integrity  and 
honor  among  the  citizens  of  the  ancient  Republics, 
long  before  Christianity  began  to  diffuse  its  benign  in- 
fluences over  the  earth.  There  are  classic  and  even 
Pagan  names  which  stand  forth  prominent  and  lumin- 
ous on  the  historic  page,  commanding  the  admira- 
tion of  all  generations.  There  are  men  now  in  the 
world,  and  in  our  own  land,  whose  names  are  never 
mentioned  without  respect  and  veneration — some  of 


10 

them  because  of  their  wisdom  and  integrity  as 
statesmen,  others  for  their  bravery  as  soldiers,  and 
others  for  their  labors  in  the  cause  of  philanthropy; 
and  yet,  all  the  reverential  love  with  which  they  are 
regarded  was  earned  by  such  virtues  as  belong  to 
human  nature  alone. 

Yet,  after  all,  "  a  Christian  is  the  highest  style  of 
man."  Piety  towards  God  is  the  surest  incentive  to 
the  full  discharge  of  all  duties  toward  man — the  truest 
and  most  unfailing  inspiration  of  honor — the  strong- 
est safeguard  of  personal  integrity — the  most  power- 
ful prompter  to  the  pursuit  and  exhibition  of  whatso- 
ever things  are  just,  and  pure,  and  lovely,  and  of  good 
report.  The  man  who  ever  lives  as  under  the  "  Great 
Task-Master's  Eye,"  who  believes  and  remembers  that 
God  is  now  the  witness  of  his  conduct,  and  will  be  his 
final  Judge,  and  who,  in  all  his  acts,  both  private  and 
official,  has  "  respect  to  the  recompense  of  reward," 
is  the  man  who,  of  all  others,  will  be  most  fearless 
in  meeting  every  responsibility  and  most  faithful  in 
discharging  every  trust.  The  public  servant  who  is 
loyal  to  his  God  will  be  true  to  his  country.  That 
there  can  be  no  divorce  between  the  political  and 
moral  life  of  a  nation,  which  will  not  ultimately 
bring  disaster  and  ruin,  need  not  be  debated  in  this 
day  and  place.  But  that  morality  is  but  one  great 
department  of  Religion,  is  equally  obvious.  To  say 
that  piety  has  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  and  that 
the  two  have  no  relation  to  each  other,  is  to  assert 
that  there  is  nothing  in  the  making  of  laws,  or  in 


11 

the  administration  of  government  which  involves 
questions  of  right  and  wrong.  Xo  sane  man  will 
attempt  to  maintain  such  an  ethical  absurdity.  If 
the  permanence  of  a  popular  government  depends  on 
the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people,  it  also  de- 
pends on  the  virtuous  intelligence  of  those  who  ad- 
minister that  government  as  the  representatives  of 
the  people.  And  that  religion  and  morality  furnish, 
not  only  a  basis,  but  "  the  indispensable  basis  "  of 
whatever  is  great,  and  pure  and  permanent  in  na- 
tional glory,  is  the  declaration  of  one  whom  we  all 
revere  as  the  highest  uninspired  authority  which  can 
be  quoted  on  this  continent. 

Human  government  is  the  ordinance  of  God, 
however  its  form  may  be  shaped  by  the  hand  of 
man,  and  Revelation  alone  unfolds  the  principles, 
the  observance  of  which  secures  individual  happiness, 
social  order,  and  national  prosperity.  If  ever  a 
Commonwealth  becomes  permanently  free,  prosper- 
ous and  great,  it  must  be  through  the  influence  of 
that  Celestial  Power  which  ennobles  all  that  it  per- 
vades, and  gives  immortality  to  all  that  it  animates 

In  thus  making  Christianity  the  vitalizing  force 
of  a  nation,  we  are  doing  something  very  different 
from  advocating  a  union  between  Church  and  State. 
In  our  own  country  the  separation  between  the  two 
is  complete.  God  grant  that  it  may  be  perpetual. 
The  Church  never  exhibits  herself  in  an  aspect  more 
unseemly  than  when,  abandoning  her  spiritual 
vocation,  she  is  seen  decking  herself  with  the  in- 


12 

signia  of  temporal  power,  and  assuming  the  func- 
tions of  civil  government.  And  the  State  never 
places  its  liberties  in  greater  jeopardy  than  when  it 
commits  them  to  the  keeping  of  ecclesiastical  rulers, 
and  invites  the  Church  to  become  its  ally  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  government.  But  while  it  is  well 
that  the  ecclesiastical  and  the  temporal  power  are 
separated  in  our  country,  it  does  not  war  with  the 
principle  to  assert  that  individual  piety  should  char- 
acterize our  rulers  and  public  men.  Were  every 
man  in  this  Confederacy,  who  holds  a  post  of  au- 
thority and  influence,  to  become  a  devout  believer^ 
so  far  from  leading  to  such  a  result  as  a  re-union 
between  Church  and  State,  it  would  be  the  very 
thing  to  prevent  it.  It  is  only  sincere  and  enlight- 
ened piety  that  can  maintain  the  separation  ;  for  it 
is  not  until  the  Church  becomes  corrupt,  and  the 
State  enervated,  that  the  one  invites  the  other  into 
an  unnatural  alliance  which  confuses  the  functions 
of  each,  and  brings  ultimate  disaster  upon  both. 
Well  would  it  have  been  for  the  Church,  if  ambitious 
prelates  had  never  intermeddled  with  civil  affairs, 
and  equally  well  would  it  have  been  for  the  country 
if  its  public  men  had  not  so  often  ignored  the 
teachings  of  inspiration,  and  given  confirmation  to 
the  popular  belief,  that  piety  was  the  exception  and 
not  the  rule  among  rulers.  The  Bible — emphati- 
cally the  Word — the  utterance  of  Divine  Wisdom — 
should  be  the  manual  of  the  public  man,  the  text  book 
of  the  statesman,  for  this  reason,  among  others,  that 


13 

he  who  receives  the  Scriptures  as  a  revelation  from 
God,  avails  himself  of  the  only  infallible  standard 
of  truth — of  the  only  absolutely  reliable  source  of 
information  with  regard  to  the  very  subjects  which 
most  concern  him. 

Political  economists  may  cite  what  names  they 
please,  but,  after  all,  Moses  was  the  greatest  Legis- 
lator the  world  ever  saw ;  and  in  the  Hebrew  Com- 
monwealth— the  purest  and  most  perfect  government 
ever  instituted  upon  earth — we  find  the  type  and 
germ  of  almost  everything  that  is  good  in  our  own 
domestic  and  civil  institutions.  Not  only  is  that  in- 
stitution which  is  most  inseparably  interwoven  with 
our  Southern  industrial  and  social  life  fully  recog- 
nized and  authorized  there ;  but  we  find  in  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  Hebrew  Commonwealth  the  origin 
of  what  is  most  valuable  in  our  own.  In  the  words 
of  a  commentator  on  the  Divine  legation  of  Moses, 
"  even  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence, 
that  terrible  handwriting  on  the  wall  of  despotism, 
is  but  an  echo  of  the  deep  thunders  of  Mount  Sinai." 
The  Commandments  there  announced — those  ten  im- 
mortal lines  which  comprise.all  human  duties — lie  at 
the  basis  of  the  jurisprudence  of  all  modern  civilized 
nations. 

Again  :  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  history 
of  the  great  Empires  and  Commonwealths  of  past 
ages,  and  the  causes  of  their  decline  and  fall,  is  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  education  of  a  true  statesman. 
He  cannot  fully  comprehend  the  science  of  govern- 


14 

merit  who  does  not  comprehend  the  philosophic 
teachings  of  history.  But  it  is  only  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  believer  in  Divine  Revelation  that  the 
world's  history  can  be  properly  understood,  and  its 
true  significance  appreciated.  It  is  only  there  that 
a  Divine  as  well  as  a  human  element  in  the  affairs 
of  man  may  be  discerned — it  is  only  there  that 
the  hand  and  mind  of  Jehovah  can  be  seen  at  work 
in  the  rise  and  fall  of  Dynasties  and  Kingdoms,  as 
well  as  the  hand  and  mind  of  man.  It  is  only  from 
that  post  of  observation  that  the  Almighty,  Himself, 
can  be  descried  walking  in  the  magnificent  procession 
of  events  which  compose  the  world's  annals,  and 
which  make  human  history  a  drama  whose  actors 
come  and  go,  and  whose  scenes  shift  at  the  bidding 
of  an  inaudible,  yet  omnipotent  voice  ;  and  upon 
which,  when  touched  by  an  unseen,  yet  resistless 
hand,  the    curtain    shall   fall,  never   more   to   rise. 

But,  more  particularly,  the  man  in  public  life  not 
only  needs  the  teachings  of  Revelation,  but  the  re- 
straining and  conservative  power  of  religion,  be- 
cause of  the  peculiar  temptations  of  his   position. 

It  needs  no  experience,  and  not  much  of  observa- 
tion to  discover  that  there  is  much  in  public  life  to 
deaden  the  finer  sentiments,  and  to  develope  some  of 
the  worst  passions  of  our  nature.  In  the  seething 
cauldron  of  political  strife,  what  unhallowed  ambi- 
tions, what  bitter  rivalries,  what  implacable  animosi- 
ties, what  cunning  intrigues,  what  astounding 
treacheries,  what  shameful  betrayals  of  confidence, 


15 

what  displays  of  intense  selfishness,  are  often  wit- 
nessed. The  most  upright  statesman  finds  it  hard 
to  spend  year  after  year  in  the  arena  of  political 
life  without  some  wear  and  tear  of  conscience,  with- 
out the  acquisition  of  some  of  the  mental  and  moral 
obliquities  which  so  often  characterize  veterans 
trained  in  this  school. 

Moreover,  men  in  public  life,  cut  off,  as  they  fre- 
quently are,  from  the  hallowing  and  virtuous  re- 
straints of  home,  are  tempted  to  the  formation  of 
habits  which  expose  them  to  new  perils.  Under 
these  circumstances  they  sometimes  exhibit  a  new 
phase  of  character,  never  suspected  in  the  immediate 
circle  of  family  and  friends.  The  man  of  strict  and 
unquestionable  morality  there — when  severed  from 
those  restraints,  which  were  to  him  as  guardian 
angels — thrown  among  those  who  laugh  at  domestic 
ties,  surrounded  by  the  enticements  of  a  more 
vicious  society,  solicited  by  the  attraction  of  games 
of  chance  and  games  of  skill,  by  convivial  pleasures, 
and  places  of  questionable  amusement  and  of  un- 
questionably bad  resort — it  sometimes  happens  that 
under  influences  like  these,  the  citizen  so  correct 
and  exemplary  in  his  native  county,  becomes  a 
man   of  pleasure  and    a  profligate    in    the  capital. 

But  not  merely  for  his  own  sake,  but  because  of 
his  influence  on  the  community  at  large,  is  it  desira- 
ble that  the  politician  should  be  a  man  of  piety. 

If  he  is  a  man  of  loose  principles  and  practice,  his 
influence  upon  his  entire  circle  of  friends  and  con- 


1G 

stituents  is  most  pernicious.  The  legacy  of  blight 
and  corruption  which  some  representatives  have  left 
behind  them  in  their  districts  may  be  traced  for  suc- 
cessive generations. 

The  conversation  of  such  men  on  the  Court- 
green,  the  speeches  delivered  by  them  on  the  hust- 
ings, have  done  more  to  debauch  and  demoralize  the 
public  mind,  and  especially  to  diminish  the  respect 
and  reverence  of  the  youth  of  their  constituencies 
for  everything  venerable  and  good,  than  can  be 
estimated. 

Nor  is  the  influence  of  such  men  upon  the  delib- 
erative bodies  to  which  they  belong,  and  which  they 
too  often  control,  less  pernicious  and  dangerous  to 
the  public  welfare. 

When  men  destitute  of  moral  principle  fill  the 
highest  posts  of  power  and  influence,  then  the  best 
institutions,  the  wisest  laws,  the  noblest  constitutions 
will  be  perverted  to  the  worst  of  purposes.  Give 
bad  men  the  control  of  Government,  and  then  no 
checks  and  balances,  '*  no  bills  of  right,  no  paper 
constitutions,"  no  compromises  or  guarantees  are 
worth  anything.  All  the  forms  of  the  constitution 
may  remain  while  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution 
is  infinitely  outraged.  The  forms  of  the  Roman 
Republic — (says  a  late  writer),  its  Senate,  its  Tri- 
bunes, and  its  Consuls — remained  for  ages  after  the 
Government  had" passed  into  the  hands  of  an  abso- 
lute Executive,  supported  by  Praetorian  Guards. 
France  had  the  form    of  a  Republic    after  the  First 


17 

Consul  became  the  supreme  Dictator.  "  What  was 
the  value  of  common  law,  of  the  trial  by  jury,  of 
Magna  Charta  in  England,  with  a  George  Jeffreys  for 
judge,  a  James  II  for  king,  and  such  juries  as  cor- 
rupt sheriffs  brought  together?"  What  was  the 
worth  of  the  British  Constitution,  when  Parliaments 
were  dispensed  with,  and  the  High  Commission 
Court  and  Star  Chamber  filled  the  prisons  and  pillo- 
ries with  victims  ?  What  is  the  worth  of  another 
Constitution  while  habeas  corpus  is  denied — while 
freedom  of  speech  and  of  the  press  are  interdicted — 
while  citizens  suspected  of  disloyalty  are  thrust  into 
military  prisons,  and  lawfully  elected  Legislators  dis- 
persed at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  ? 

"  When  politics  becomes  a  game  in  which  dema- 
gogues are  the  players,  the  people  pawns,  and  the 
spoils  of  office  are  the  stakes  at  hazard" — when 
men  in  high  places  become  the  violators  of  law,  both 
human  and  Divine — when  shameful  broils  and  bru- 
talities are  witnessed  even  in  Legislative  halls — when 
wealth  becomes  a  synonym  for  worth,  and  high  social 
position  an  apology  for  vice — when  official  station  is 
made  the  means  of  extortion,  oppression,  and  the  in- 
strument of  avenging  private  animosities — when  the 
perfidies  by  which  private  trust  funds  are  appro- 
priated and  the  public  treasury  is  plundered,  are  un- 
punished— when  the  intrigues  by  which  the  basest 
of  men  are  elevated  to  posts  of  the  highest  respon- 
sibility and  authority,  are  successful — then  comes 
perversion  of  law,  mockery    of  justice,  general  de- 


18 

moralization,  anarchy,  dismemberment;  and  the 
crash  and  ruin  of  the  falling  edifice  will  be  all  the 
more  terrible,  because  of  the  ponderous  weight  of 
its  materials,  and  the  very  height  from  which  it 
fell. 

Disregard  of  the  principles  of  immutable  justice; 
contempt  of  lawful  authority  ;  venality  ;  luxury  ; 
corruption  of  morals ;  the  overthrow  of  institutions 
commended  by  the  experience  of  ages,  hallowed  by 
the  approval  of  the  wTise  and  good,  and  sanctioned  by 
Divine  legislation  ;  the  profligacy  of  the  people,  and 
the  reckless  tyranny  of  rulers ; — these  have  occa- 
sioned the  downfall  of  the  most  powerful  kingdoms 
and  commonwealths  of  the  world.  Such  are  the  in- 
scriptions which  Providence  has  engraved  upon  the 
tombs  of  dead  and  buried  nations. 

Thus  fell  ancient  Assyria,  with  her  sculptured 
Capital,  and  multitudinous  armies,  when  Babylon 
took  up  the  once  resistless  sceptre  which  her  ener- 
vated hand  could  no  longer  sway. 

Thus  perished  queenly  Persia,  with  her  diadem  of 
fire,  and  countless  riches,  extending  her  conquests 
through  the  Orient,  till  her  armed  millions  were 
scattered  by  the  Macedonian,  like  chaff  before  the 
storm. 

Thus  fell  the  fairest  land  of  the  Muse,  home  of 
Homer,  of  Pindar  and  Pericles,  worshipping  beauty 
and  ostracizing  justice,  retaining  the  Pyrrhic  dance 
but  disbanding  the  Pyrrhic  phalanx. 

Thus  fell  majestic   Rome,  with  her  mural  crown, 


19 

and  iron  legions  thundering  through  the  world, — 
unconquerable,  save  by  her  own  corruptions. 

And  thus  fell  what  was  once  the  noblest  Confed- 
eracy over  which  the  blue  Heavens  ever  bent,  on  the 
day  when,  to  preserve  all  that  is  dear  to  liberty  and 
to  man,  a  portion  of  her  sons  unfurled  a  banner  em- 
blazoned with  a  new  Constellation,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  this  Confederated  empire  of  Imperial 
States  ! 

Let  the  sad  epitaphs  inscribed  on  the  tombs  of 
departed  nations  admonish  us  of  the  causes  of  their 
decline  and  foil ;  and  when  with  deep  solicitude  we 
ask,  how  may  all  the  institutions  we  hold  dear  be 
preserved  and  perpetuated,  let  us  reverently  hear  the 
response  of  the  ever-living  oracle — "  Righteousness 
exalteth  a  nation."  "  Happy  is  that  people  whose 
God  is  the  Lord." 

The  character  of  the  public  servant  who  meets 
with  the  Divine  approval,  and  the  blessing  which  a 
nation  receives  through  the  instrumentality  of  up- 
right rulers,  is  beautifully  represented  to  us  in 
the  poetic  imagery  of  one  of  the  Old  Testament 
writers  :  "  He  that  ruleth  over  men  must  be  just, 
ruling  in  the  fear  of  God.  And  he  shall  be  as  the 
light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun  riseth,  even  as  a 
morning  without  clouds  ;  as  the  tender  grass  spring- 
ing out  of  the  earth  by  clear  shining  after  rain." 

It  is  an  easy  and  grateful  task  to  present  the  pro- 
minent characteristics  of  such  a  representative. 
Pure  in  private  life,  his  public  career  will    be  the 


20 

clear  and  healthful  stream  flowing  naturally  from 
such  a  fountain.  As  perfume  rises  from  the  violet, 
as  light  beams  from  a  star,  so  will  official  integrity 
and  virtue  be  the  spontaneous  emanation  of  noble 
principles  cherished  in  the  heart. 

In  discharging  every  public  duty  however  impor- 
tant, however  trivial,  he  will  prefer  to  maintain  "  a 
conscience  void  of  offence"  to  all  the  honors  and 
emoluments  of  office  gained  at  the  expense  of  prin- 
ciple. Of  transparent  character,  he  conceals  noth- 
ing because  he  has  nothing  to  conceal.  While  the 
time-serving  demagogue  trims  between  all  parties, 
he  takes  his  position  on  every  question  involving 
principle,  deliberately  indeed,  but  openly,  and  deci- 
dedly, and  is  ever  ready  to  defend  the  faith  that  is 
in  him.  Unlike  the  popularity  hunter,  who  never 
asks  what  is  right,  but,  what  is  politic,  and  then 
shapes  his  course  so  as  to  catch  every  breeze  of  pub- 
lic favor,  thus  resembling  the  sail  ship  which  goes 
tacking  through  the  sea,  taking  advantage  of  every 
prevailing  wind, — the  upright  statesman  goes  di- 
rectly to  his  purpose  along  the  straight  line  of  right, 
as  the  steamship  darts  directly  across  the  sea  to  the 
destined  haven,  leaving  a  trail  behind  in  which  no 
deflection  can  be  traced. 

While  the  demagogue  serves  only  a  faction,  and 
that  too  for  selfish  ends,  the  upright  statesman  re- 
gards himself  as  the  exponent  of  a  party,  perhaps, 
but  still  more  as  the  exponent  of  truth  and  justice — 


21 

the  representative  of  his  country's  interest  and 
honor. 

While  the  one  dares  attempt  nothing,  however  in- 
trinsically noble  it  may  be,  which  might  endanger 
his  popularity,  the  other,  when  assailed  by  obloquy 
for  his  espousal  of  what  he  believes  to  be  right 
and  true,  is  not  overwhelmed,  however  fierce  the 
storm,  but  calmly  waits  for  the  verdict  of  time — the 
great  vindicator. 

When  the  path  of  duty  becomes  the  path  of  dan- 
ger, he  never  cringes  or  cowers,  but  remains  firm 
and  unshaken  as  the  rock  in  mid-ocean,  dashing 
back  into  the  face  of  the  storm,  the  invading  waves 
which,  in  making  their  assault  are  shivered  into 
spray. 

While  the  one  gains  ephemeral  notoriety  by  the 
adroit  use  of  temporary  expedients,  the  other  uncon- 
sciously achieves  enduring  renown  by  identifying 
himself  with  grand  progressive  ideas,  and  by  his  dis- 
interested devotion  to  those  principles  and  labors 
which  tend  to  advance  the  welfare  of  mankind. 

While  the  one  spends  all  his  energies  in  directing 
the  tactics  of  a  party,  the  other  aspires  to  build  up 
a  noble  Confederacy,  rather  than  the  power  of  a 
faction. 

In  a  word,  the  upright  statesman  is  elevated  above 
the  influence  of  all  that  is  ignoble,  narrow,  and  sel- 
fish, because  he  lets  all  the  ends  he  aims  at,  be  his 
God,  his  Country  and  Truth. 

Were  all  our  rulers    and    representatives    men  of 


such  mould,  not  only  would  corruption  and  venality 
shrink  away  abashed,  but  the  lustre  of  such  exam- 
ples, conspicuous  from  afar,  would  penetrate  and 
permeate  with  healthful  influence,  all  classes  in  so- 
ciety. Virtuous  representatives  would  lead  on  vir- 
tuous constituencies  in  the  paths  of  national  pros- 
perity, and  the  three  great  bulwarks  of  the  nation 
would  be  intelligence,  integrity  and  the  fear  of  God. 

Such  a  land,  too,  would  ever  be  the  very  home  of 
liberty.  Without  liberty,  all  natural  exaltation  is  a 
cheat  and  a  mockery.  All  the  glory  of  the  nation  then 
reflects  no  lustre  on  the  people  who  compose  it.  It 
but  serves  to  gild  the  crown  of  a  despot,  and  throw  a 
halo  around  the  career  of  a  usurper.  But  Christi- 
anity makes  men  acquainted  with  their  rights,  and 
teaches  them  how  to  defend  them.  It  bears  aloft  a 
consecrated  banner  on  one  side  of  which  is  written  : 
"  Tribute  to  whom  tribute  ;  honor  to  whom  honor  ;  " 
but  on  the  other  side,  in  characters  equally  bright 
and  unfading,  we  read  the  inspiriting  declaration, 
" Resistance  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God;"  thus 
verifying  the  saying  of  the  eloquent  De  Tocqueville, 
that  "  Religion  is  the  companion  of  liberty  in  all  its 
battles,  the  cradle  of  its  infancy,  the  Divine  source 
of  all  its  claims." 

Religion  ever  prefers  the  bloodless  victories  of 
peace ;  but  when  war,  the  last  resort  of  the  mag- 
nanimous and  brave,  becomes  inevitable ;  when  the 
sword  must  be  drawn  for  the  protection  of  altar  and 
home,  then   Christianity  fires  the  heart  and  nerves 


23 

the  arm  of  the  patriot  soldier  who  wields  it.  When 
men  can  appeal  to  Heaven,  as  our  fathers  of  the 
Revolution  did,  for  the  justice  of  their  cause,  and 
invoke  the  aid  of  the  God  of  Battles,  then  will  a 
nation  become  as  illustrious  in  arms  as  in  the  gentle 
arts  of  peace. 

It  requires  time  to  work  out  problems  so  vast,  but 
the  end  will  show  that  a  nation  becomes  prosperous 
and  happy,  respected  and  powerful,  just  in  propor- 
tion as  its  public  men  and  private  citizens  follow  the 
teachings  of  that  wonderful  Book  which  contains 
the  only  perfect  system  of  ethics — a  system  illimita- 
ble in  application,  universal  in  adaptation,  and  per- 
petual in  obligation. 

Divine  Revelation  not  only  casts  its  informing 
light  upon  the  duties  incumbent  on  us  here,  but  it 
reveals  the  only  objects  deserving  the  supreme  re- 
gard of  the  heirs  of  immortality.  How  poor  is 
earth,  with  its  perishing  riches,  honors  and  pleasures, 
compared  with  the  eternal  inheritance  of  wealth, 
and  dignity  and  joy  which  Revelation  discloses  to 
the  faith  and  hope  of  the  good. 

To-day  the  voice  of  Providence  unites  with  the 
voice  of  Inspiration,  admonishing  us  that  "  all  the 
glory  of  man  is  as  the  flower  of  the  grass." 

We  are  told  that  when  Massillon  pronounced  one 
of  those  wonderful  discourses  which  placed  him  in 
the  first  rank  of  pulpit  orators,  he  found  himself  in 
a  church  surrounded  by  the  trappings  and  pageants 
of  a  royal  funeral.     The  church  was  not  only  hung: 


24 

■with  black  drapery,  but  the  light  of  day  was  ex- 
cluded, and  only  a  few  dim  tapers  burned  on  the 
altar.  The  beauty  and  the  chivalry  of  the  land 
were  spread  out  before  him.  The  king  sat  before 
him  clothed  in  sack-cloth  and  sunk  in  grief. 
There  was  silence — a  breathless  suspense.  No 
sound  broke  the  awful  stillness.  Massillon  arose.  His 
hands  were  folded  on  his  bosom,  his  eyes  were  lifted 
to  Heaven ;  utterance  seemed  impossible  ;  he  stood 
mute  and  abstracted.  Presently  his  fixed  look  was 
unbent — his  eye  roved  over  the  scene  where  every 
pomp  was  displayed — where  every  trophy  was  ex- 
hibited. That  eye  could  find  no  resting  place  amid 
all  this  idle  parade  and  mocking  vanity.  At  length 
it  settled  on  the  bier,  on  which  lay  dead  royalty, 
covered  with  a  pall.  A  sense  of  the  indescribable 
nothingness  of  man,  at  his  best  estate,  overcame 
him.  His  eyes  once  more  closed — his  very  breath 
seemed  suspended,  until,  in  a  scarcely  audible  voice, 
he  startled  the  deep  silence  with  the  words : 
"  There  is  nothing  great  but  God." 

To-day  this  church,  by  a  solemn  dispensation  is 
converted  into  a  house  of  mourning,  and  here  in  an 
audience  containing  those  who  occupy  the  highest 
posts  of  authority  and  power  in  this  land,  temporal 
distinctions  for  the  time  are  forgotten  in  the  presence 
of  the  dead,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  God  who, 
draws  near  by  this  Providence  to  remind  us  that, 
"  Man  that  is  born  of  a  woman  is  of  few  days  and 
full  of  trouble.     He  cometh  forth  like  a  flower,  and 


25 

is  cut  down;  he  fleeth,  also,  as  a   shadow  and  con- 
tinueth  not." 

To-day  we  are  warned  that  "  pallid  death,  who 
knocks  with  impartial  hand  at  the  cottages  of  the  poor 
and  the  palaces  of  kings,"  is  no  respector  of  per- 
sons. He  enters,  with  equal  freedom,  the  dwelling 
i  of  the  humblest  citizen,  and  the  gate  of  the  capitol. 
He  casts  his  bleak  shadow  through  the  lowly  cham- 
ber, and  through  the  halls  of  national  legislation. 
He  strips  off  the  rags  of  the  beggar,  and  the  robes 
of  the  senator.  He  sends  the  poor  peasant  and  the 
"  honorable  counsellor,"  side  by  side  to  repose  in  the 
silent  grave.  ■ 

To-day  let  pride,  ambition  and  vain  glory  stand 
rebuked  ;  let  us  learn  that  the  unseen  is  the  real ; 
that  the  Eternal  alone  is  worthy  of  our  supreme  re- 
gard;  that  "  There  is  nothing  great  but  God." 

The  suddenness  with  which  this  stroke  has  fallen 
gives  new  impressiveness  to  the  solemn  summons : 
"Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think 
not,  the  Son  of  Man  cometh." 

God  forbid  that  we  should  be  so  immersed  with 
temporal  concerns,  however  important,  as  to  neglect 
the  things  which  belong  to  our  everlasting  peace. 
God  forbid  that  delay,  irrational  delay,  should 

"Steal  year  after  year,  till  all  are  fled, 
And  to  the  mercies  of  a  moment  leave 
The  vast  concerns  of  an  eternal  scene;" 


26 

If  by  this  mournful  Providence  we  are  taught  the 
evanescent  nature  of  all  earthly  good — if  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  conviction  that, 

"  He  builds  too  low  who  builds  beneath  the  skies." 

if  we  are  led  to  the  place  where  alone  is  shelter  for 
the  defenceless  and  pardon  for  the  guilty  ;  if  through 
the  grace  which  fortifies  the  soul  against  the  dread 
of  death,  we  also  gain  preparation  for  the  duties  of 
life ;  if  we  arc  constrained  to  come  this  day  and 
sacrifice  all  personal  and  party  ends  on  the  altar  of 
patriotism ;  if,  at  this  moment,  wThen  our  country 
calls  so  imperatively  for  the  devotion  of  all  who  can 
serve  her  in  the  council  and  in  the  field,  we  conse- 
crate ourselves  afresh  to  our  duties,  with  minds 
chastened  and  hearts  purified  by  affliction,  then  this 
sad  Providence  will  have  accomplished  its  salutary 
purpose. 

The  heart  which  so  lately  throbbed  with  patriotic 
fervor  is  still.  The  lips  which  lately  moved  with 
prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  our  sacred  cause  are 
mute ;  but  let  us  kindle  with  the  same  fire,  let  us 
prolong  the  prayer  that  Heaven's  best  benediction 
may  rest  on  our  Confederacy ;  on  its  Chief  Magis- 
trate, and  all  associated  with  him  in  its  government; 
on  all  our  officers  and  soldiers  in  the  field ;  on 
all  our  citizens  in  their  homes  ;  that  God,  Himself, 
presiding  over  every  interest  dear  to  our  hearts,  our 


^t 


country  defended  by  His  Almighty  Ann,  and,  en- 
riched by  His  gracious  Providence,  may  enjoy  a  per- 
petual heritage  of  prosperity  and  peace. 

And  unto   God,  Most  High,  will  we   ascribe  all 
honor  and  glory,  evermore.     Anien, 


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